WEST JORDAN, Utah, May 24, 2021 — Walker Edison, a leading supplier of furniture with an exclusive focus on the e-commerce channel, announced today that funds managed by Blackstone Tactical Opportunities (NYSE: BX; “Blackstone”) have made a significant minority investment in the Company. The Company’s Founders, Brad Bonham and Matt Davis, and controlling investor Prospect Hill Growth Partners maintain a majority stake.

Walker Edison designs and supplies affordable, ready-to-assemble furniture. Their extensive logistical network and data-driven business model provides an end-to-end solution to leading global e-commerce platforms – allowing their partners to seamlessly offer a wide variety of products with fast shipping to consumers.

Brad Bonham, Co-Founder and CEO of Walker Edison, said: “We’ve made tremendous progress since partnering with Prospect Hill Growth Partners in 2018. Adding Blackstone as a partner alongside Prospect Hill is an exciting step in our evolution as a data-centric e-commerce enabler. Our hyper-growth has been driven by our pivot to data, and we believe that growth will only accelerate by partnering with Blackstone’s unique offerings in data science, logistics, and supply chain as we continue to expand across the globe.”

Jasvinder Khaira, a Senior Managing Director at Blackstone, said: “Walker Edison is a pioneer in its sector and trusted partner to many of the world’s leading e-commerce platforms. The continued shift toward online purchasing and strengthening consumer recovery are two of Blackstone’s highest conviction investment themes – and the company is poised for significant further expansion. We are excited to work with their first-class management team to help further accelerate their growth in the years ahead.”

Ann Chung, a Managing Director at Blackstone, said: “Walker Edison’s combination of scale, technology, and product offerings have made it a leader in the fast-growing online furniture industry. We believe their business is well positioned to benefit from strong tailwinds moving forward as e-commerce adoption continues to rise – particularly among younger furniture customers.”

David Fiorentino, a Partner at Prospect Hill Growth Partners, said: “We continue to believe strongly in the value proposition of Walker Edison as a data-driven, e-commerce enablement solution. We are excited to continue our partnership with the Founders, Brad and Matt, and welcome Blackstone’s expertise in e-commerce as we continue to build a category-leading company across the globe.”

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Ropes & Gray served as legal advisor and Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Lincoln International, LLC served as financial advisors to Walker Edison. Simpson Thacher Bartlett served as legal advisor to Blackstone.

About Walker Edison
Since its establishment in 2006, Walker Edison has become a leading partner and drop-ship solution for the biggest names in e-commerce. Driven by data, they strive to cultivate a culture that inspires customers to Live Outside the Box™ with innovative furniture. Walker Edison is a global organization with operations in Brazil, Asia, the UK, and Germany. To learn more visit www.walkeredison.com. Follow Walker Edison on Instagram @WalkerEdisonCo.

About Blackstone
Blackstone is one of the world’s leading investment firms. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies we invest in, and the communities in which we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible capital to help companies solve problems. Our $649 billion in assets under management include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, life sciences, growth equity, opportunistic, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow Blackstone on Twitter @Blackstone.

About Blackstone Tactical Opportunities
Tactical Opportunities (Tac Opps) is Blackstone’s opportunistic investment platform. The Tac Opps team invests globally across asset classes, industries and geographies, seeking to identify and execute on attractive, differentiated investment opportunities. As part of the strategy, the team leverages the intellectual capital across Blackstone’s various businesses while continuously optimizing its approach in the face of ever-changing market conditions.

About Prospect Hill Growth Partners
Prospect Hill Growth Partners is a Boston-area private equity firm that makes equity investments of up to $100 million in North American consumer and healthcare growth companies. The partners of Prospect Hill Growth Partners have invested $2.8 billion of capital in 37 portfolio companies while working together over the last two decades. The partners’ successful investment track record has been built on a sector-focused strategy, a robust operational value-add model, and strong alignment of interests. For more: www.prospecthillgrowth.com.

Contact
Matt Anderson
518-248-7310
matthew.anderson@blackstone.com

• EQT Growth led the EUR 250m Series F fundraise in Vinted, Europe’s largest online C2C platform dedicated to second-hand fashion, with presence in over 10 markets worldwide
• The underlying market of Vinted is supported by favourable secular megatrends, including increased focus on sustainability efforts and greater demand for circular fashion
• EQT Growth will support Vinted and its management team by accelerating growth into new geographies and help strengthen its existing leading position across its core markets, by leveraging EQT’s strong digital and sector expertise, global platform and extensive advisory network. Following the investment, Carolina Brochado, Partner at EQT Growth, will also join Vinted’s board

EQT is pleased to announce that EQT Growth has led the investment in Vinted Limited (“Vinted” or “the Company”). The investment, which is made through EQT AB’s balance sheet, is part of Vinted’s EUR 250 million Series F fundraise at a pre-money valuation of EUR 3.5 billion.

Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Vilnius, Lithuania, Vinted operates in over 10 markets, and has become the largest online C2C marketplace in second-hand fashion across Europe. Since Thomas Plantenga took over as CEO in 2016, Vinted has transformed its business model and developed a proven market development playbook, as evidenced by the Company’s strong growth and traction in recent years. These unique characteristics are supported by best-in-class unit economics and an enduring financial profile across its key markets. This virtuous flywheel effect is enabled by more than 45 million members globally

Vinted’s underlying market is supported by several secular tailwinds, including growing concerns around sustainability and climate change, as well as an increased focus on the circular economy, with consumers eager to make more responsible and less wasteful fashion choices¹.

EQT Growth will aim to support Vinted’s accelerated growth and continued pursuit of commercial excellence by investing in the Company’s platform and technology, helping it cement its leading position across its core markets and enabling further expansion into other global markets.

Moreover, the Company is expected to leverage EQT’s in-house digital and tech expertise and network of advisors to continue providing a best-in-class customer-centric experience. Together with management, EQT Growth will support Vinted’s plans to reinforce its position as the largest online marketplace for second-hand fashion across Europe. Following the investment, Carolina Brochado, Partner at EQT Growth, will also join Vinted’s board of directors.

Carolina Brochado, Partner and Investment Advisor to EQT Growth, said, “Vinted is transforming the second-hand fashion market across Europe through their customer-centric approach and extraordinary execution. Vinted is the perfect example of EQT Growth’s strategy of backing fast-growing European tech champions that tap into several macro trends, such as the increasing consumer demand for sustainability and continued penetration of online channels within fashion. We’re immensely proud and excited to be supporting Thomas and the Vinted team and we cannot wait to work together to further unlock the market for circular fashion.”

Thomas Plantenga, CEO of Vinted, said, “We are contributing to a seismic shift in the second-hand fashion market, enabling more sustainable, socially-responsible shopping habits. Our platform offers a great, easy-to-use product and helps people experience the benefits of second-hand trade. We want to replicate the success we’ve built in our existing European markets in new geographies and will continue investing to improve not only our product, but also to ensure we continue having a positive impact. We are grateful to our existing and new investors, and believe today’s milestone is a vote of confidence in our commitment to the circular economy and our relentless effort to build a business that encourages more people to buy and sell second-hand.”

In line with the commitment to invest in sustainable businesses, EQT Growth will accelerate Vinted’s growth as it supports the circular economy and responsible consumption. By enabling consumers to sell and buy clothing and other items second-hand, reduce unnecessary production and promote innovation, Vinted contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) #9, #12 and #15.

The transaction is expected to close in May 2021, subject to customary approvals.

¹Source: McKinsey’s report on “Consumer Sentiment on Sustainability in fashion” from July 2020

Contact
Finn McLaughlan, +44 7583 130 052, finn.mclaughlan@eqtpartners.com
EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com, +46 8 506 55 334

About EQT
EQT is a purpose-driven global investment organization focused on active ownership strategies. With a Nordic heritage and a global mindset, EQT has a track record of almost three decades of delivering consistent and attractive returns across multiple geographies, sectors and strategies. Uniquely, EQT is the only large private markets firm in the world with investment strategies covering all phases of a business’ development, from start-up to maturity. Including Exeter, EQT today has more than EUR 67 billion in assets under management across 26 active funds within two business segments – Private Capital and Real Assets.

With its roots in the Wallenberg family’s entrepreneurial mindset and philosophy of long-term ownership, EQT is guided by a set of strong values and a distinct corporate culture. EQT manages and advises funds and vehicles that invest across the world with the mission to future-proof companies, generate attractive returns and make a positive impact with everything EQT does.

The EQT AB Group comprises EQT AB (publ) and its direct and indirect subsidiaries, which include general partners and fund managers of EQT funds as well as entities advising EQT funds. EQT has offices in 24 countries across Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas and has more than 975 employees. 

More info: www.eqtgroup.com
Follow EQT on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram

About EQT Growth
EQT Growth explores thematic growth opportunities at the point companies are ready to scale, investing in a range of technology and technology-enabled businesses.

Follow EQT Growth on Medium, LinkedIn and Twitter

About Vinted 
Vinted is the largest online international C2C marketplace in Europe dedicated to second-hand fashion, with a growing member base of over 45 million users spanning 13 markets: France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Luxembourg, UK and the USA. Founded in 2008 in Lithuania by Milda Mitkute and Justas Janauskas, and joined by first investor and COO Mantas Mikuckas in 2011, the company is now led by CEO Thomas Plantenga and backed by six leading investment firms: EQT Growth, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Accel, Insight Venture Partners, Burda Principal Investments, and Sprints Capital. On a mission to make second-hand the first choice worldwide, Vinted helps members sell and buy second-hand clothes and accessories from each other, making shopping a mobile and social experience through one-on-one member interactions in its community. The European start-up is head-quartered in Vilnius, with offices in Berlin, Utrecht and Prague and has over 700 employees.

More info: www.vinted.co.uk  

Kinnevik AB (publ) (“Kinnevik”) today announced that its Board has decided the final terms for the distribution of Kinnevik’s shareholding in Zalando SE (“Zalando”), through a share redemption plan. The Board has decided to distribute Kinnevik’s entire shareholding in Zalando, and accordingly Kinnevik will distribute 28 Zalando shares for 143 Kinnevik redemption shares, equivalent to approximately SEK 166 or 0.195 Zalando share per Kinnevik share. Kinnevik will thereby make an extraordinary value transfer of approximately SEK 45.8bn to its shareholders.

The Annual General Meeting of Kinnevik on 29 April 2021 resolved to distribute Kinnevik’s shareholding in Zalando through a share redemption plan. The Board was authorised to determine the final distribution per share as well as the timetable for the share redemption plan. Kinnevik’s Board has today decided to distribute Kinnevik’s entire shareholding in Zalando through the share redemption plan, and that the redemption consideration accordingly will be 28 Zalando shares for 143 Kinnevik redemption shares. Based on the closing price for Zalando’s share on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange as at 10 May 2021, the redemption consideration per share corresponds to approximately SEK 166, a total value transfer to Kinnevik’s shareholders of approximately SEK 45.8bn.

Further, the Board has set the record date for the share split and the right to receive redemption shares to Tuesday 18 May 2021. The last trading day in the Kinnevik share before the share split including the right to receive redemption shares is Friday 14 May 2021. From and including Monday 17 May 2021, the Kinnevik share will be traded not including the right to receive redemption shares. The redemption shares will be traded on Nasdaq Stockholm from and including Wednesday 19 May 2021 to and including Wednesday 9 June 2021. The Zalando shares are estimated to be available on the shareholders’ securities accounts, nominee accounts or equivalent on Friday 18 June 2021.

Please note that both the resolved terms and the timetable are the same as the indicative terms and timetable stated in the notice to the 2021 Annual General Meeting and in the information brochure regarding the share redemption plan.

Kinnevik’s shareholding in Zalando will for technical reasons be distributed in the form of Euroclear Sweden-registered Zalando shares that the holder may re-register directly with Clearstream Germany following the share redemption plan (during July 2021). The re-registration is made to enable shareholders to complete transactions with the distributed Zalando shares on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. An information brochure with further information on the share redemption plan as well as detailed instructions on the subsequent, free-of-charge, re-registration is available on Kinnevik’s website at www.kinnevik.com under the heading ”General Meetings” (which can be found under the section ”Governance”).

Shareholders with questions regarding the distribution can call or email Kinnevik’s hotline call center service operated by Computershare.

Phone: +46 (0)8-46 00 73 89
Email: kinnevik@computershare.se

For further information, visit www.kinnevik.com or contact:

Torun Litzén, Director Investor Relations
Phone: +46 (0)70 762 00 50
Email: press@kinnevik.com

Kinnevik’s ambition is to be Europe’s leading listed growth investor, and we back the best digital companies to make people’ lives better and deliver significant returns. We understand complex and fast-changing consumer behaviours, and have a strong and expanding portfolio in healthtech, consumer services, foodtech and fintech. As a long-term investor, we strongly believe that investing in sustainable business models and diverse teams will bring the greatest returns for shareholders. We back our companies at every stage of their journey and invest in Europe, with a focus on the Nordics, and in the US. Kinnevik was founded in 1936 by the Stenbeck, Klingspor and von Horn families. Kinnevik’s shares are listed on Nasdaq Stockholm’s list for large cap companies under the ticker codes KINV A and KINV B.

Attachment

• Press release pdf

Altor Fund V (“Altor”) has acquired a majority stake in the fast-growing Swedish home appliances brand Aarke from the founders Jonas Groth and Carl Ljungh. The founders will remain significant owners and continue in their new operational roles as CEO and CPO.

Aarke is the leading premium home carbonation company with global presence. The company has grown rapidly since it was founded in 2016 with sales reaching above SEK 200m in 2020. Aarke currently sells premium home carbonation machines with a sleek, minimalistic Scandinavian industrial design and related products via its global distributor network and own webshop.

“When we started searching for a partner, we wanted someone that could complement us and contribute with relevant experience for the next phase in our growth journey”, says Carl Ljungh and Jonas Groth, the founders of Aarke. “We felt that Altor was a very good match as they have partnered up with founders in similar situations before and they have a successful history in supporting fast-growing consumer companies with global expansion ambitions”.

“We are highly impressed with Aarke’s success to date with spectacular growth, design capabilities, innovation and brand values. The home carbonation market is attractive and Aarke provides high-quality products to a growing, global consumer base focused on health, wellness and sustainability”, says Andreas Källström Säfweräng, partner at Altor. “We actively look for partnerships with outstanding founders, which is something we have definitely found in Carl and Jonas. We are looking forward to our journey ahead.”

In addition to the partnership with Altor, a new Board will also take office, Pernilla Ekman, former CEO of Zound Industries will become Chairman of the Board and Stefan Ytterborn, founder of POC and Cake, will become member of the Board.

For more information, please contact:
Tor Krusell, Head of Communications at Altor +46 705 43 87 47

• Indesso benefits from the global demand and growing consumer awareness for natural ingredients, and contributes to the development of a sustainable value chain in the flavors & fragrances and wider consumer goods industries

• EQT Private Equity will support Indesso’s ambition for continued research driven product innovation and geographical expansion, as well as in enhancing digital capabilities and sustainability, leveraging on EQT’s inhouse expertise and global advisory network

EQT is pleased to announce that the EQT Mid Market Asia III fund (“EQT Private Equity”) has invested in Indesso Group (“Indesso” or “the Group”). The founding Gunawan family will retain a majority stake in the Group and remains as management following the transaction.

Established in 1968 and headquartered in Jakarta, Indonesia, Indesso is a leading provider of natural ingredients, serving over 2,000 customers in the Flavors & Fragrances (“F&F”) industry in more than 50 countries globally. Indesso’s natural products are essential elements used in the formulation of a wide range of flavor ingredients in food and beverage products, as well as aromatherapy and fragrances in consumer products and nutraceuticals.

Over the years, Indesso has established a strong presence as a manufacturer of essential oils including their derivatives and botanical extracts unique to Indonesia. Through continuous research and innovation, it has transformed into an integrated solutions provider across the F&F ecosystem. Indesso is also one of the market leaders in Indonesia supplying F&F products and food ingredients on behalf of its global principals to the fast-growing local consumer goods industry.

Indesso’s underlying market is supported by global megatrends, such as the shift to natural based products, and the growing importance of sustainable supply chains. The Group supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals through its “People – Partnership – Planet” program, which seeks to develop a traceable and responsible natural raw material sourcing and reduce the environmental impact of its business activities.

EQT has vast expertise and a long history in developing strong assets in the sector, including a global F&F company, and existing portfolio companies Azelis and Chr. Hansen Natural Colors. EQT Private Equity intends to leverage on this experience and its global advisory network, to support Indesso’s ambitions for accelerating product innovation and enhancing its raw material sourcing capabilities to continue serving its customers with the best product offering and highest service standards. EQT Private Equity also intends to back Indesso’s inorganic growth plans in the region and invest further in the Group’s digital infrastructure and sustainability, drawing on its inhouse expert capabilities.

Brian Chang, Partner and Investment Advisor, Head of Southeast Asia at EQT Partners, said “Indesso started on its journey more than 50 years ago, bringing natural ingredients to the world. We are truly humbled by the opportunity to invest in a market leader in this highly thematic space as it prepares for the next phase of its journey to expand further. We have full confidence in the talented team and high quality business that Pak Robby is leading and are excited about the ample opportunities to further invest in innovation, sustainability and digitalization to continue to add value to Indesso’s customers and principals.”

Robby Gunawan, CEO of Indesso Group, said “This partnership with EQT represents a new chapter in Indesso’s ‘Journey of Unlocking Nature’. This will accelerate our corporate mission of creating innovative solutions with ‘sustainable natural based ingredients for life’. In the last 10 years, we have enjoyed robust growth in our business built upon solid relationships with current business and supply partners, principals and customers, something that we want to continue and further strengthen. EQT’s expertise and experience in our business space will support us in realizing new opportunities to provide better and innovative solutions for our customers.”

The transaction was closed on 10 May 2021.

Contact
APAC media inquiries: KEKST CNC, daniel.delre@kekstcnc.com, +852 9212 3105
EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com, +46 8 506 55 334
Indesso Corporate Communication, arianto.mulyadi@indesso.com, +62811965808

About EQT
EQT is a purpose-driven global investment organization with more than EUR 67 billion in assets under management across 26 active funds. EQT funds have portfolio companies in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas with total sales of approximately EUR 29 billion and more than 175,000 employees. EQT works with portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.

More info: www.eqtgroup.com
Follow EQT on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram

About Indesso
Established in 1968, Indesso is one of Indonesia’s key manufacturers of food, flavor, and fragrance ingredients. Through strict quality assurance, we ensure that all customers receive high quality products, which comply with international standards and regulations. Indesso is devoted to providing value-added ingredients through innovation, efficiency, and sustainable business practices.

More info: www.indesso.com
Follow Indesso on LinkedIn and Instagram

Plantasjen has reopened all stores in Norway. From mid-March up to 38 stores have been closed, due to Corona restrictions. This means that all Plantasjen’s stores in the Nordic region now are open.

“It is satisfying that all stores on our markets are now open as we enter our most important sales period of the year. I am extremely impressed by the way our employees have handled the uncertainty during this period. One example is the launch of our e-commerce. Our online sales have accelerated quickly during this period. The effort done by the whole team is great, and we will of course handle the reopening in a responsible way and in line with authority recommendations,” says Nina Jönsson, CEO of Plantasjen.

For further information, please contact:
Nina Jönsson, CEO of Plantasjen
+46 (0)720 774 420

Anders Slettengren, Head of business area Consumer at Ratos
+46 (0)725 898 900

About Ratos:
Ratos is a business group consisting of 12 companies divided into three business areas: Construction & Services, Consumer and Industry. In total 2020, the companies have approximately SEK 34 billion in sales. Our business concept is to develop companies headquartered in the Nordics that are or can become market leaders. We enable independent companies to excel by being part of something larger. People, leadership, culture and values are key focus areas for Ratos. Everything we do is based on Ratos’s core values: Simplicity, Speed in Execution and It’s All About People.